DES MOINES, IOWA (October 22, 2024) — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading eight other states in urging the US Supreme Court to hear Utah’s case requesting control over its own land.
The federal government owns nearly 70 percent of Utah’s land — almost half of which is being held by the government without any designated purpose, such as for national parks, national monuments, wildlife, or recreation areas. Utah is suing to be able to use that land and has asked the Supreme Court to hear the case.
“States have a right to sue the federal government, and the citizens of those States have the right to have their interests heard in court,” said AG Bird. “I am calling on the Supreme Court to let Utah make its case for control over its own lands.”
The Constitution grants the US Supreme Court authority to hear cases where a State sues the federal government. The States make the case that giving the Court this power was to emphasize the importance of disputes between the States and federal government, not to disregard States and treat them as second-class litigants.
Iowa led the amicus brief and was joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Texas.
Read the full amicus brief here.
